Wiarton Willie
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Wiarton Willie is the name given to a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
groundhog who lives in the
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of
Wiarton Wiarton () is a community in the town of South Bruce Peninsula, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the western end of Colpoys Bay, an inlet off Georgian Bay, on the Bruce Peninsula. Wiarton is notable for the Wiarton Willie Festiva ...
in
Bruce County, Ontario Bruce County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada comprising eight lower-tier municipalities and with a 2016 population of 66,491. It is named for James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, ...
. Every February 2, on
Groundhog Day Groundhog Day ( pdc, Grund'sau dåk, , , ; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from ...
, Willie takes part in the local ''Wiarton Willie Festival''. His role is to predict whether there will be an early
spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
. Although the original Wiarton Willie died in 1999, the Wiarton Groundhog Day celebrations continue each year with a successor of the original Willie (except in 1999 and 2021 where, due to the previous Willies' deaths, no groundhog was used), and each successor is also referred to as Wiarton Willie. Groundhog Day, featuring Wiarton Willie, is a popular annual festival in Wiarton and is similar to events in other locations in North America. A midwinter celebration involving an animal with predictive powers was an element of
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culture.Eight Wiccan/Neopagan Sabbats: Imbolc: Jan-31 to Feb-02
Religious Tolerance.org. Retrieved on: November 4, 2007.
The link between weather prediction and the day is said to have been inspired by an old
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couplet: "If
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Day is bright and clear/ There'll be two winters in the year."CBC News (February 2, 2007
"What Wiarton Willie sees."
CBC News In Depth: Groundhog Day. Retrieved on: November 3, 2007.


History

The story of Wiarton Willie dates back to 1956. A Wiarton resident named Mac McKenzie wanted to showcase his childhood home to his many friends, so he sent out invitations for a "Groundhog Day" gathering. One of these invitations fell into the hands of a ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' reporter. The reporter travelled to Wiarton looking for the Groundhog Day event. None of the townspeople knew about a festival, but one suggested he check at the Arlington Hotel, the local watering hole. There the reporter found McKenzie and his friends partying and was invited to join them. The next day, the reporter lamented to McKenzie that he needed some kind of story to take back to justify his expenses. So McKenzie grabbed his wife's fur hat, which had a large button on the front, went out to the parking lot, dug a burrow in the snow and pronounced a prognostication (which no one remembers). The picture of Mac and the hat ran in the February 3, 1956 edition of the Toronto Star. A year later, about 50 people arrived for the festival. Half were reporters from various media, including the CBC and
Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...
. Seizing on the opportunity, McKenzie invented a festival that has been added to over the years. Wiarton Willie himself is a more recent addition to the festivities. In the early years, prognostication was provided by the "mythical" trio of groundhogs Grundoon, Muldoon and Sand Dune. Willie appeared on the scene in the 1980s. Wiarton Willie's predictive powers are attributed (by his followers) to his situation on the 45th parallel, exactly halfway between the
Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...
and the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...
. He is claimed locally to be accurate in his prognostications around 90% of the time; scientists have estimated Willie's accuracy at 25%.


Death and successors

The original Wiarton Willie lived to the advanced age of 22, and was found dead only two days before Groundhog Day in 1999. The organizers were unable to find a replacement, and instead marked Groundhog Day by revealing "Willie" in a coffin. He had been dressed in a tuxedo, had coins over his eyes, and a carrot between his paws. The real Willie had in fact decomposed, and the body in the coffin was that of an older, stuffed groundhog.
The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
was obliged to issue a retraction on its wires. Wiarton Willie's keepers groom
understudies In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to ap ...
, nicknamed "Wee Willie" during the elder groundhog's lifetime, to eventually replace the reigning Wiarton Willie when they die. Wiarton Willies have typically had lifespans longer than the 4–9 years of a typical groundhog, and thus other groundhogs may have served in the role unreported. Wiarton Willie II was reported as deceased on July 11, 2006, after fighting an infection for the previous month. On September 15, 2017, Wiarton Willie III died at 13. Two-year-old Wee Willie became Wiarton Willie IV on September 30, 2017, coinciding with a memorial service for the old Willie. Wiarton Willie IV died in 2020, leading to the 2021 prediction being made without the presence of a groundhog. Wiarton Willie IV's death was not publicly announced until November 2021. Wiarton Willie V was introduced at the 2022 Groundhog Day celebration; he is the first brown groundhog to assume the position.


Death of cubs controversy

In May 2003, two of Wiarton Willie II's Wee Willies disappeared; three months later, they were found dead in the burrow where they resided with Willie. Because groundhogs are known to be territorial animals, Willie was suspected of killing the two, an allegation that was never proven. Francesca Dobbyn, who looked after the groundhogs, informed her immediate supervisor who chose not to inform the Wiarton city council of the incident, fearing bad publicity; the council agreed to allow Dobbyn to keep her job despite the scandal.


Past predictions


Groundhog Day show

Groundhog Day in Wiarton is a major celebration, with
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s,
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s,
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tournaments,
curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...
bonspiel A bonspiel is a curling tournament, consisting of several games, often held on a weekend. Until the 20th century most bonspiels were held outdoors, on a frozen freshwater loch. Today almost all bonspiels are held indoors on specially prepared ar ...
s,
pancake A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a Starch, starch-based batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or fryi ...
breakfasts, darts and
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tournaments, sleigh rides, a Monte Carlo Night and a
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.Wiarton Willie Festival Events
southbrucepeninsula.com. Retrieved on: November 3, 2007.
Around 10,000 people are said to attend. It has been called "one fthe most popular events in Ontario" and has twice been named "the World's Greatest Event" by Seattle's Festivals.com.Jim Fox (February 2, 2007
"Waking Wiarton Willie."
Canoe.ca. Retrieved on: November 4, 2007.


See also

*
Balzac Billy Balzac Billy is the "Prairie Prognosticator", a man-sized groundhog mascot who prognosticates weather on Groundhog Day. He lives in Balzac, Alberta, 8 km north of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. According to the legend of Groundhog Day, the groundho ...
*
Buckeye Chuck Buckeye Chuck, Ohio's official weather-predicting groundhog, resides in Marion, Ohio. He is one of two whistlepigs (another name for groundhogs) in Ohio known for predicting the arrival of spring on Groundhog Day (February 2). A native of Ohio, Chu ...
*
Fred la marmotte Fred la marmotte is a Canadian groundhog located in near Percé, Quebec who predicts weather on Groundhog Day. According to the tradition of Groundhog Day, if the groundhog sees his shadow then spring will be delayed; if he does not see his sha ...
*
General Beauregard Lee General Beauregard Lee is a groundhog in the US state of Georgia widely considered to be the Groundhog Day weather prognosticator for the Southern United States. General Beauregard Lee's predecessor was known as General Robert E. Lee, named afte ...
* Punxsutawney Phil * Shubenacadie Sam * Staten Island Chuck * Stormy Marmot


Notes

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External links


Wiarton Willie Festival

Wiarton Willie suspected in double murder
1999 animal deaths 2006 animal deaths 2017 animal deaths 2020 animal deaths Canadian culture Individual groundhogs Holiday characters Bruce County Individual albino animals Individual animals in Canada Oracular animals Groundhog Day